WOOT!!!

SF took the first game vs AZ! And I hear the Pirates won yesterday, too! We had some great offense- Beltran got it going! Keppinger, Huff and Ross woke up, too!!

Let the september scrapping begin!! And with tejada gone, Crawford was called back up- YES!! Love those hands!! And he has potential with a bat.

I saw some clips last night and looks like Verlander and team are doing just fine! Since SF played the interleague series with Detroit, I have been watching them in the AL.

We had 6 runs last night to back up Matt Cain and it was a very sweet sight! So, we shall see.......

Hi Yellow-

These owners are just greedy pigs. They dont care about the fans bc they still get a cut of the other MLB teams $$. So, as long as they sell tickets they won't do anything to help the team bc they dont love the game. Its just another business they own, like another shoe store they happen to own.

Hell, I'd love to have a business that made 30 million a year. But they dont love the game. I hate to say this, and I mean NO OFFENSE, but it reminds me of the Yankees...they sucked until Steinbrenner bought them, bc he loved baseball and wanted to win for the fans and for the players and for the franchise. He bought the team and turned it into what it is bc he had passion. It wasnt just a business to him.

You mention the catcher Michael McKenry. He does look great. But, 90% throw out rate is pretty high...unless you were just teasing me. Why the heck dont they bring him up? Paying 5 mil for Doumit is absurd when you got that guy in the minors, kwim?

Hi Kobi...you dig the Sox? I'm a Yankee fan. It's been a great race so far this year, hasnt it? You have a good looking team this year. I love when the Sox play the Yanks....can't beat it. Nothing like a friendly rivalry between teams.

Play ball!

:)

Micheal McHenry is here, hoping he is here to stay. He was brought here when Doumit was crushed on a play at the plate and broke his ankle, and our other catcher blew out his back two days later. Our own minor league prospect (talk about bad luck)
was hit by a pitch in the side of the head and had a fractured jaw. So here comes Micheal McHenry. He flourished
apparently because of desire. It's a feel good story. I think
as I have been saying, Doumit will no longer be a pirate next year. Rumors for two years that they have been trying to trade him. But always injured. He can hit. This incident of sloppy play is not Doumit like. He's playing today....and playing his heart out. I think he saw his fate on the sports wheel. Sad.

Patiently waiting the Detroit-Chicago (White Sox) game at 4. I watched the game last night, with Justin Verlander dominating the Sox. If you get a chance to watch Verlander pitch this year, take a look. He's won 21 games this season, and he is (I hope) the top Cy Young candidate. He is completely dominating other teams. Just a great pitcher to watch.

If he doesnt win the Cy Young I will be shocked. He's great.

braves 81 and 56 wow!

but 8 1/2 behind the Phillies. The Phillies are that good!

6-4 yankees are winning at yankee stadium! Yanks will pick up a half game if they finish this.

David Huff pitches tonight for the Indians.....(my second favorite team)

5 to 3 in a rain delay Pirates at Chicago, and Loosing. They can call this, it's 7 1/2 played.

Me too- can't imagine him not getting the Cy Young this season. That, from a big time, Tim Lincecum fan- but he has won it twice and Verlander's stats are better. I saw some of the clips last night- nice game, Tigers!!

The Giants better beat the Dbacks again tonight!! And it looks like the Pirates are picking things up! The Red Sox game was great!! Damn, Cody ross made one hell of a sliding catch in lest field last night for SF!!

Without meaning to go off-topic, I thought I'd go down memory lane slightly with this post. As I've mentioned previously on this thread, I've very little interest in modern day baseball but have a strong interest in vintage baseball history and imagery, esp. relating to the NY Yankees and NY Giants.

Despite my fascination with the 1920s Yankees, Babe Ruth has never been one of my real sporting heroes (Lou Gehrig has always captured my imagination much more as has Phil Douglas of the Giants) but I was fortunate enough to purchase these two original photos from the archives of the Chicago Tribune this weekend.

These photos are interesting, given that they capture the man very close to his death. The first of the photos was taken at Monogram Studios in May 1948 with Ruth looking into the camera at scenes from the forthcoming Babe Ruth Story. William Bendix, who played Ruth in the movie, is also pictured. With Ruth critically ill, the movie was rushed through production so that Ruth could attend the premiere, which he did on 26th July, weeks before his death:

http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/a...esgq/ruth1.jpg


The second photo was taken in Baltimore in August 1948, just before his last trip to hospital where he died on 16th August. At this stage, Ruth was gaunt, ravaged by cancer and unable to speak.

http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/a...esgq/RUTH2.jpg



Neither photo is particularly attractive, for good reason, but vividly capture the final days of a sporting icon and a true Yankees legend.

Derek Lee returned to the line up yesterday, against the Cubs. He singled first time up, after being on the disabled list with a broken bone in his wrist. He batted again in the 9th, bases loaded, two outs...he hit a grand slam off the very pitcher, who hit him on the wrist. Pirates won 7 to 5.

The night before, Chicago pitcher hit Andrew Mccutchen on the finger part of his left hand. Clint Hurdle [manager] was reportedly livid with his pitching staff for not protecting their players. He cited some astounding statistics about up and in and hit batsmen against us....compared to what we delivered.

Olendorf apparently got the message, at all costs. He hit two of the chicago batters in the first inning. You know the old saying, when a batter gets hit so, does the catcher and the umpire. YEP! both times the fast ball 93 and 95 mph
hit the batters then hit Doumit in the chest protector and flew up and hit the umpire. I was surprised after the second beaning, no warnings were issued. (the second beaned batter loaded the bases with no one out). We got out of it, no harm done.

Andrew did not have any broken bones, and played. but was wearing a padded glove. Later in the game, Nate Mcclouth
beaned another bat's man, right in the butt..:|..still no warning.

The pirates have some decisions to make. Derek lee, will be 34 next year. He has played in 4 games for us, since being aquired before the trading dead line. Has hit 3 home runs.
He is having a good year. Certainly an upgrade over Overbay.Should they offer him a new contract?

Then we still have Garrett Jones. Also an offensive weapon. He is eligable for arbitration next year. He had a fantastic
Aug. while Lee was healing and no Overbay. Led the team with extra base base hits. So the Pirates know what they have with Jones. The question mark is Lee. Jones can also play outfield. Right or left.

I've talked several times about accountability with our hitting coach, Gregg Ritchie. Not only are we, once again, considered the worst team in baseball with 19 loosing years, we lead MLB in strikeouts. Since the all star game, we have had 431.

The Giants made it to the world series on great pitching, and Philadelphia is doing that now.....maybe I am looking at
offense all wrong.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

So frustarted with the same old lack of offense loses for SF!! Vogelsong puts up fantastic pitching numbers and our bats do nothing!! AZ's Hudson is a hell of a pitcher too- but dammit!!! They seem to get hot, but it is always short lived. Frankly, Sandoval has not hit worth beans since he came back from the DL a couple of months ago.

Beltran & Keppinger have little bloops of great hitting, then..... nada...

We go to SD tomorrow- who knows- now back 7.

The good news is that Buster Posey is recovering quite well from his mega injury early on in the season and it looks like he will play again- which was in question.

Vogelsong went 7 with giving up a hit, then in the 8th, the Dbacks woke-up and SF just did not hit or get the hell on base.

So frustrating! But, I will be as big of Giants fan tomorrow as ever....

Looks like my AL team (BoSox) are very much in contention! Sooooooo much closer than my Giants and the Dbacks. But, they were 6 back at the end of September last year. I just don't see the same "magic" :(.

Posey will maybe be back sometime next season. he still has a long way to go. But, his progress is good. He says he will catch again- I think that is nuts! The guy has experience at other positions and is a great hitter- I don't get his wanting to catch after that accident. However, he has had the super of the supers as surgeons and sports rehab specialists- who knows what is possible. He's young and strong and dedicated to the game. He is such a force on the team- I'm glad he is now in the dugout during games.

SF has had serious injuries to key players throughout the season- I think that has taken one hell of a toll, especially with meshing together which was so much a part of the 2010 WS team.

It seems to me that Boston might very well be a force in the playoffs- kewl! There are some damn good teams in the AL this season- they have a lot to do, but, 1.5 games out is not bad at all.

SF not only needs to win just about every game, but the Dbacks have got to lose more than a few!! And I just feel like SF really needs to re-think their offensive coaching. It isn't working! And there are guys that are not hitting that certainly have in the past.

MO
 

I just have to give our guy Mo Rivera his props. I have never seen him actually hit a guy, but he did today...wow. But they won.

This guy is FORTY-ONE and is still pitching 94 mph and he is still one of the best closers out there. Almost 600 saves. The dude is just amazing.


PS-sorry about Beckett all. I hope he doesn't even miss one game. He's great!

I predict the BoSox will be in first before the end of the season...you guys are good. Its been a see-saw season.

YES! A win! These days, SF has got to get them all!! Will the offense continue to bring in runs??? September is so wild and nail-biting.

Loved seeing my favorite rookie play yesterday and our bats working- Crawford at SS. Bumgarner blows me away- if he is this good at 22, what will he be like on the mound in a couple of years? What a kid- I remember him last year as a rookie pitcher in the post season as cool as a veteran.

September baseball is sooooooooooooooooo intense!

Oh, it is heating up! SF has developed some offense with September call-ups, especially Bret Pill. But, they lost yesterday to SD in a game that they should have won.

Hell yes, Verlander is something!! The Tigers are tearing it up out there overall and I am really looking foreward to The AL play-offs- almost as much as the NL, where my heart resides. If Verlander does not get the Cy Young, it would stink. The guy will be among the greats in baseball history.

Yes, Posey and catching again... I don't know if anyone else saw how Carlos Beltran demonstrates the way to slide into home- thing of beauty. He gets the run without putting himself or a catcher in danger of serious injury. And the guy has lousy knees! Players really do not have to smash catchers to hell in order to get the run. Skill and knowing how to have a long career on the field goes a long way.

AZ is really hot and determined- my guess is that they take our conference and SF is a wild-card in the play-offs. We still have some holes that I think will not be filled in time and the Dbacks have the mojo going! I can see them in the WS- just have to see.

Home stand against the Dodgers for SF starting Friday. SD is playing AZ for a series. I think AZ will sweep- damn!!

Yelloband- geez, the Pirates have fallen so much! Sux- they have a lot of talent.